Small Words for Big Releases

Left 4 Dead 2 (Valve, $60, PC & Xbox 360): Four people vs. countless zombies. If it’s anything like the original, you’ll want to play online with friends who have your back so you can keep your brains.

Scene It? Twilight (Konami, $50, Wii, release date Nov. 24): The Scene It? franchise is counting on your obsession. If anything, you’ll find out how many questions can possibly be asked about one movie.

Dragon Age: Origins (Electronic Arts, $60, PS3 & Xbox 360): This season’s role-playing game mines the same Tolkien imagery with an epic storyline and enough customizable content to make it your own.

Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (Rockstar Games, $20, Xbox 360): You will need the original Grand Theft Auto IV to play this downloadable add-on. Motor around Liberty City protecting a decadent club owner and parachuting off buildings.

LittleBigPlanet (Sony Computer Entertainment, $40, PSP): The PSP version of this PS3 hit has all new cute and playable levels while maintaining the level creator from the original. Design your world and share it with friends.

Aion (NCsoft, $50 plus a $15 monthly subscription fee, PC): Another massively multiplayer online game from Richard Garriott’s old stomping grounds. Breathtaking environments and the ability to fly make it the MMOG of choice this season … if you can take a break from World of Warcraft.

Tekken 6 (Namco, $50, PS3 & Xbox 360): After six tries, you can only assume that they have the scantily clad and gravity-defying fighting game down to a science. – James Renovitch

For more reviews – including Borderlands and A Boy & His Blob – visit the Screens blog, Picture in Picture, austinchronicle.com/pip.

This article appears in November 20 • 2009.

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James graduated from Columbia University in 2000 and moved to Austin a year later. Ever since, he has followed the arts and video game scene in ATX, editing and writing stories for the Chronicle along the way. Over his more than 20 years with the paper he has climbed the "corporate" ladder from lowly intern to managing editor.

A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...